. >> let's welcome now to the canadian ambassador to the united states, his excellent gary duer. >> thank very much, mr. shafer, secretary of navy, the governor o'malley, senator, ambassadors, friends. it's wonderful to be here and speak at this beautiful, beautiful historical site. the site, of course, which inspired the "star-spangled banner," a great national anthem in our world. certainly for canada this is a very, very important event to commemorate. we, of course, had this war that began in 1812. some of the skirmishes began before that. we worked together around the world as countries that believe and fight for democracy wherever it's at risk. we certainly know that in our history books we get a little bit of the war of 1812. we hear about the burning of the factory or burning of toronto. we hear about the burning of the white house, but there is much more to this war, much more to this conflict, and much more to the peace that arose from its completion than what is often appreciated in our collective histories. so this commemoration event i think is a wonderful opportunities to co

ambassador of canada to mexico, and he's already been acknowledged, but my good friend, ambassador gary dueranada's ambassador to the united states. now head of the non-partisan institution, i want the audience to know how impressed i am that prime minister harper chose gary, the former new democratic party premier of manatoba to be the ambassador to this country. such bipartisanship is to be applauded and rare in this country these days. he invited me to lunch at the canadian embassy is few months ago, and in addition to having the most gorgeous embassy in town, he demonstrated an ipad app that shows canada's contribution to the economy of each state and each u.s. congressional district, a great way to show our congress why this relationship matters to their constituents. with me at lunch that day was david beyet, the directer of the wilson center's remarkable canada institute. he worked hard to bring the prime minister here today and all pleased his efforts were successful. one housekeeping note -- after my conversation with the prime minister which should last about 30 minutes of the hour